10 things I love about racing

I'm a fan of the Equispace blog, and today, the blog's author, Geno, posted 10 things that don't bug him about racing.  Since racing fans can always use another dose of positive attitude, I got to thinking about some of my own favorite things:

1.  Come catch me.  I'm a sucker for horses that open up 4 or 5, hell, 20 lengths on a field and can still win.  Presious Passion, Acclamation, Get Serious, Mandurah.  These guys run mile and a half marathons like they're in a 300-yard quarter horse race.  They are equine Steve Prefontaines -- none of that drafting, stalking crap.  They tell the racing world, hey, just open the gate, and I'm going to run as fast as I can until you tell me it's time to stop.  I love it.

2.  First-time turf.  Boy, do I enjoy opening the racing form to find a first-time turfer with hidden grass pedigree.  Heck, I'll bet 'em even without the pedigree if they are 3 or 4 years old and have shown more than a hint of speed on dirt.  One of my favorite picks ever was a 90-1 speedball at Indiana Downs trying the grass for the first time.  Gate to wire, baby.  By far, this is my favorite handicapping angle.

3.  Siro's.  I love everything about Saratoga Springs, but handicapping at Siro's before the races and then going straight there afterwards to drink beers and swap stories about the day is pretty close to heaven.

4.  The backside.  If you're not in the racing business, a visit to the backside is rare (with the exception of Saratoga's shuttle trips).  It's a mesmerizing place, where I love to imagine all the secrets being kept back there.

5.  Zenyatta.  I don't care what anyone says, Zenyatta is an amazing horse that beats everything put in front of her.  It's even harder not to love her after you've seen in her person, prancing and posing for pictures in the paddock.  She's a beautiful champion with an A+ personality.

6.  50-cent pick fours.  I'm stealing this one from Geno.  I, too, adore this bet.  It suits my style of playing multi-race wagers.  In a pick four, I usually try to nail down two singles and go as deep as I can in the other races.  All it takes is one bomb in a pick four sequence to make it pay box cars, and I probably won't have the bomb playing 3x3x3x3.  But I can rarely afford to hit the ALL button in a $1 P4.  The 50-cent P4s can pay huge, too.  I saw one at Churchill last fall that paid $180,000.  That's a fat Pick 6 payout!

7.  The far turn.  I love sneaking down to the far turn to watch a race.  At most tracks, I'm usually the only person there.  The announcer's call and the crowd are so far away, all you can hear are the thundering hooves and the jockeys clicking their horses into gear for the stretch run.  Best place to get race photos, too.

8.  Harses, harses.  One of these days, I'd love to try my hand at race announcing, but I'm not sure what my "thing" would be.  Just about every announcer has a signature. In Louisiana, it's the French Ils Sont Parti instead of And they're off.  The announcer at Fairmount park calls the animals harses instead of horses.  And the harses are rounding the far turn!  I love Tom Durkin's sense of humor and Mark Johnson's polish.  Here in SoCal, I never tire of Trevor Denman's And away they go.

This race call by Frank Mirahmadi at Turf Paradise (where he imitates other announcers) is an all-time classic:

9.  Winning.  I know it's weird, but I'm just not a big fan of losing.  As a handicapper, I don't mind getting beaten.  What bugs me is when I lose a race in which I ignore one of my favorite angles, and that horse wins.  Drives me crazy!  But in keeping with the positive theme of this post, I'll just say that being right and winning money is awesome.  


10.  New fans.  Taking a novice to the track and teaching them about the game is just plain fun.  I've never taken anyone to the races who didn't want to come back again.  The more we can share our passion for the sport with others, the more optimistic we can be about its future.


There.  I feel better now.  Thanks, Geno!